Showing posts with label DiscoveryEducation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DiscoveryEducation. Show all posts

DEN Webinar: Discovery Gone Mobil
12:21 PM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 1 comments


First you must put the DE site on your home page on the iPad. Open Safari and go to the DE website. Click on the "send to" arrow right next to the URL and a new window will open. Choose ADD TO HOME SCREEN and a nice DE icon will be placed on your ipad screen. It appears like an app, but is not. This is a direct link to your DE log in page and it is a nice shortcut.

Where to you find good apps?

I read blogs and professional journals, follow teachers on Twitter, and ask everyone at workshops and seminars where they find apps. This really saves time because these are already vetted by someone else. Knowing which apps are not good is useful as well. So start asking people for their favorite app and you will get a list very quickly.
Here are some sites I consider to be some of the top critics of apps. So if you do not have a starting point yet, try these sites.

How do you integrate apps with DE Resources?

Don't overlook the photos, images, songs and sounds in the DE library. Most people do not even search these assets but there is gold in there, but you need to mine it! There are over 7400 audio files, songs and sound effects from rainforest sounds to a snare drum. You can use these in presentations, projects and more.
Organize your classroom iPads by using some of the fantastic DE photos as the background screen. There are penguins, insects, plans, animals, or famous people you can "Save Picture (Photo Album)". Then go to the background setting and choose from camera roll for the photo you saved. All of the backgrounds below are found in the DE images.
      


To download a DE video to play on the iPad, you should use an app called iCab(free). Your selection will download to your Camera roll. Once in there, when you play the clip, notice at the top of the screen there is a place you can "trim" the video if you need to make it shorter. Here are two places to visit to read more about iCab from some STAR DE educators;
  1. Carolyn Stanley's blog post - http://bit.ly/ZgMi7X
  2. Mark Hammon's YouTube video tutorial - http://bit.ly/ZgMmor
Once you use iCab, be sure to connect it to Dropbox for storage of your projects so they do not take any of the precious iPad memory.


Turn that lesson into engaging and meaningful activities.

  1. Give students the assignment to find photos in the Discovery library, import them into Educreations. Students can narrate the slide show.
  2. Students create a conversation between the four gentlemen in the painting with Blabberize.com or Bubblesnaps.com
  3. Use photos from DiscoveryEducation image library to create a poster of the water cycle using Popplet Lite mind mapping app.
  4. Try Pic Collage to create a poster of information about China. Finding photos and information in DE photos.
  5. Download images from DE to create a digital, but not multimedia poster using Text on Foto. Use this app to label a photo before using it in a slideshow.
  6. For a different style of writing, have students find images in the DE library and create a postcard using PhotoCard app.There is an option to actually mail it for$1.99 or send to photo library so you can print and post around your room.
  7. Create a slideshow with Lodge McCammon music - first download his songs on a computer then put on iPad -  (as ipad is connected to computer, don’t sync, just select View->Show Sidebar and drag Lodge songs to the iPad device). It will put Lodge in iTunes and make it available to other apps on your iPad that use music. But first use Text on Foto to label the photos before importing to ProShow to make a musical slideshow.
  8. Tech Smith has come out with a new app called Ask3. The concept "Ask 3 before me". So when a student has questions in class they should ask 3 others first. This app allows teachers to create an assignment by video/audio from within the app and describe what students will complete. This gets posted to a "bulletin boaard". Students do their assignment an then come back to Ask3 to record their images and message for the assignment which also gets posted to the bulletin board. The collaboration begins when others in the class make comments to their peer about the work submitted. The product is in beta, so your comments to TechSmith are appreciated. You can have an influence on how an app develops.

The sample projects are contained within the presentation attached below.


Here are the resources mentioned in my DEN GURU Webinar.

AppsGoneFree - Free - sends notification about paid apps that become free.
AppShopper - Free - Enter all of your apps into this web data collection. Also enter any apps you have on your "Wish List" and   AppShopper will notify you of any updates or drop in price.
Dropbox - Free - to move files from your computer to iPad easily
Educreations - Free - Make tutorials, slide shows and narrate them.
iCab Mobile - $1.99 - Download DE videos on the iPad.
Keynote - $9.99 - Create presentations on the iPad.
PhotoCard - Free - Make a postcard that you can print or mail using any photos or DE photos
Pic Collage - Free - Digital poster with photo, text and sticker support. No multimedia.
Popplet Lite - Free - Mindmapping app in which you can insert DE images or photos in the Popplets.
ProShow - Free - Create slideshow with music like Lodge McCammon's songs.
Text on Foto - Free -Enter text with over 50 font styles on DE photos or images.
All in all you could spend so much time evaluating apps and creating lessons to use them in your classroom. But by visiting the sites suggested you can find some excellent resources to make going mobile more fun.

Excellent Starting points for finding apps for education

  2. Interesting Ways(to use ipad in classroom) by Tom Barrett - http://edte.ch/blog/interesting-ways/
  3. Review of apps by Apple Distinguished Educators - http://www.appitic.com/
  4. Robin Martin’s iPad links - https://www.diigo.com/user/rmom352/iPad
  5. Tony Vincent’s iPad links - http://bit.ly/YNHQBt
  6. Robert Byrne’s - http://ipadapps4school.com/
  7. ADE reviewed apps - http://appitic.com/
  8. Teachers with apps - http://bit.ly/12SwX5A
  9. TCEA matrix of apps - http://www.tcea.org/ipad
  10. Real Teachers recommend apps - http://bit.ly/12SyQzd
    AppoLearning - https://www.appolearning.com/
  1. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning - http://bit.ly/11UCZOO
  4. 15 iPad skills every teacher and student should have - http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/01/15-ipad-skills-students-must-have.html
  5. 20 Random iPad Math Apps - http://bit.ly/YApXl7
  7. 26 categories for teachers using iPads in class, from math to notetaking apps - http://www.educatorstechnology.com/p/blog-page_9.html
  10. 50 of the Best Resources for iPads - http://bit.ly/12SwX5A
  12. 100+ Tips on how to integrate iPad into your classroom - http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/09/tips-on-ipad-use-in-education.html
  13. 1000 apps organized by subject and price by Texas Computer Education Assoc.- http://edudemic.com/2012/02/1000-apps/


iPad blogs:

  3. Edudemic.com - http://edudemic.com/
  5. iPad AppStorm: http://ipad.appstorm.net/
  6. Kathy Schrock’s - Bloomin’ Apps - http://bit.ly/1447Kpz
  7. Linda Nitche’s Scoop.it - http://www.scoop.it/t/ipad-resources


Sites that review apps

  1. iEar.org - http://www.iear.org/ Consume the information here or help to create a library of reviews
  3. Kathy Schrock’s - iPads in the Classroom - http://bit.ly/1447PJU
Kathy Schrock’s - Kathy’s Katch - post on iPads and Assessment - http://bit.ly/10wvGNv

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eBooks by Robin Martin available on iTunes bookstore.


 



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image: http://coplancreativeconsulting.com/business-website-design/6-great-ipad-apps-for-business/


Get Your Goggles On-Tech Ideas for Science With Patti Duncan
1:19 PM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments

June 24Image by rmom352 via Flickr

These ideas are from Patti Duncan from the DiscoveryEducation Leadership Council Seminar.

Patti uses wikis in her class to create assignments for her 9th grade science students. Kids are paired with kids from another class and must complete all conversations online through the discussion boards. All rubrics are on the wiki as are the handouts for kids to print on their own after they lose the first one they are given. You can also lock the wiki editing at 11:02 so no more changes can happen. Then you can give points for their contributions. She also has “How to” on the wiki as well.

Scramble and Write: Find images in DES print, laminate and put with students on a table. Kids must put the photos in order and write about it. Example: frog life-cycle. Notes for Smartboard - put vocab on side and image in center, kids put words on right part of the image. Can use as pre-assessment or post assessment.

Teach with music: from DES next to the search box choose audio. Find songs for frog life cycle, water cycle, Mendelev, and Marsh.

Play the sounds of a biome as kids enter room and have them guess what biome and why. This can be a writing activity. Create a PPT show as PPT show then they will not be able to edit or change the preso as it is online. This is good for differentation lessons or deliberate learners who want a LOT of time to process information. Give them a note guide to fill in as they watch the video.

Frog Glog: Create a Glogster about the frog cycle and kids can click to different activities to learn each section. You can put a voki widget into a builder. You can create a voki of yourself reading the directions for the writing prompt. You can also create an avatar get the html code and embed it into the builder assignment.

Overall Patti has a ton of ideas to incorporate into using DiscoveryStreaming resources. She suggested getting a green shower curtain from IKEA ($3.99) to use as a green screen when making videos. So I stopped at White Marsh Center and bought 5 for our school! Don't get bogged down with just using streaming video. Take a look at the clip art and songs. You just might be surprised at what you find there.

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Cross Posting begins
12:26 PM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments

Today I begin to blog on my DiscoveryEduction teacher blog. Most of the information will be cross posted to both locations. It is too hard to come up with different information for both places. I do come across a lot of great resources, so they will be listed on each site. I do this because I have been invited to help RJ Stangherlin with the PA DEN blog. Last year it was run by Jen Dorman who pushed it right to the top with the first DENny Award for a state blog. There is a log of pressure (self inflicted of course) to continue this as a source of good information for everyone. So stop by and see what is new on the PA DEN blog. If you have a suggestion, pass it along.


Tech4Learning Turns 10!
6:41 AM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments

I just seems like last week when I went to HyperStudio Fest in SanDiego. What a fun time it was. Hyperstudio was on top of the world and was THE multimedia program to use in schools K-12. We loved it, the kids loved it and it was priced just right for the education environment. A few years later, much to my dismay, it slowly dissolved as it was purchased by another group. Out of the dust, David Wagner, Melinda Kolk and Dallas Jones started another company: tech4Learning and a new era of educational connections began.

This morning I received an email announcing the 10 year anniversary of tech4Learning. Their devotion of educational computing is unmatched. The monthly newsletter/magazine is filled with fantastic ideas for using their products. The pics4learning website is an excellent source of free images and they provide some of the best "at show" product demonstrations at NECC.

My school district has not bought in to their software at site license program, so we do not use their product on a full scale implementation. However, as a DiscoveryEducation STAR, I have received complimentary copies of some of their products. I must say that they are intuitive to use and blend well with other programs. I use their site, pics4learning all the time with my multimedia classes. The photos on the site are taken by ordinary people and freely shared. Anyone can submit photos to this excellent resource.

So send them a note of encouragement for continued success and thank them for their dedication to providing services and products to the educational community. Congratulations tech4Learning, I wish you 10 more years of prosperity.

Image from the website: http://www.tech4learning.com/
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First Year Teacher ??
10:20 AM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments

DiscoveryEdcation has so much to offer teachers from newbies to long range veterans. I just discovered this new site while skipping around the blogs I read. This site from DiscoveryEdcation is devoted to new teachers: The New Teacher Survival Central. I learned some great ideas from this site. There are blogs, lesson ideas, classroom management, classroom design and organization ideas too. Enter a contest, find some links from Kathy Schrock or just click everywhere! This is a must site for any new teacher regardless of subject, age, or time of year they begin teaching. No registration is necessary for this site, but you must have a user code to access the array of DiscoveryEdcation tools and videos. Once again DiscoveryEdcation does not fail education and supporting teachers! Most likely I will re-post this in September when most new teachers will be reporting for duty.


Videos for ESL
11:24 AM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments
DEN Leadership Council Institute 2008 Day 2Image by krossbow via FlickrOur ESL teacher stopped by to talk about DiscoveryStreaming and showed me some wonderful ESL video sites. He uses these to teach teachers how to prepare lessons for their ESL students. There are videos on many topics, so bookmark the ones you can use with your students!
  1. Colorín Colorado - webcasts that have been recorded
  2. Learner.org - this link takes you to some Spanish podcasts - It is a FREE account
Don't forget that you can turn on the closed caption option in the DiscoveryEducation videos for any ESL students to practice reading English, or to find some Spanish voice over in many movies. Check the description of each video. You need to have a log in code to access these resources. Check with your media specialist or district technology director to see if your district is enrolled.
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DiscoveryEducation Additions
11:18 AM - Posted by Mrs. Robin Martin - 0 comments

New to the collection of videos at DiscoveryEducation streaming is When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions, Stuff Happens with Bill Nye, Discovery Atlas, Operation Junkyard, Tutenstein and Extreme Engineering. In addition they have added over 1000 titles spanning over 20 languages including Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese and Hebrew. Make sure you visit the site often, as there are new additions monthly.